The Short History of the Long Road

Excellent, Sabrina Carpenter's performance is amazing, I liked the plot and the way the story is told. The locations are very beautiful, and the story is very entertaining and exciting.

Young Nola (Sabrina Carpenter) and her dad basically travel out west and live in their old VW van. He works odd jobs to earn some cash and he teaches his daughter the ways of life. She was named after the city (New Orleans) and they hope to get there at some point. She never knew her mother who left when Nola was a baby and she hopes to someday track her down.

When things take a big turn and Nola finds herself alone with the van she has to make a whole new plan, including befriending an auto shop owner and working for him for a time to pay for towing and van repairs. When she finds her mom she learns the whole story, she may have been abandoned but at least she was allowed to live. Striking out alone again she finds a traveling group of van owners, this might be her logical family.

This is mostly a quiet movie but a good character study. We had not heard of Sabrina Carpenter before but she is really good in the role, all 5' 1" of her. I found out later she is an accomplished singer and songwriter, maybe we will see more of her.

My wife and I watched it at home on DVD from our public library.

This is if they knew how to do it: not such a great story but so wonderful told, such a great directoring and damn well plaied made it a soul touching movie!!!

Teenager Nola (Sabrina Carpenter) travels and lives off the grid in a van with her father Clint (Steven Ogg). Suddenly, her father dies and she sets off on her own. It's a struggle. She encounters religious do-gooder Marcie, garage owner Miguel (Danny Trejo), and troubled teen Blue. All the while, she dreams of finding her long absent mother Cheryl.

This is an interesting off-the-grid and coming-of-age story. It threatens to be something more intense but it never really push it to the next level. Despite the dangers of the road, she finds only people who are helpful to varying degrees. It is highlighted by a very deep performance from Sabrina Carpenter. One thing I would do is to make the van a much bigger presence. It is the center of many situations and ends up being the final talisman. This is a terrific performance from a young actress in a somewhat compelling story.

This road movie presents another way than a standardized life. Living with less to enjoy more the life.

Other possibles, in harmony with nature exists. Don't expect great special effects and this reflect the way of the life than the father offer to her dautgher.